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Collegedale presents proposed budget with gap under $1 million, plans no immediate property tax increase
Summary
At a special budget workshop the Collegedale City staff presented a proposed fiscal-year budget that holds the current interim property tax rate, shows about $15.0 million in projected general-fund revenue and $16.3 million in projected general-fund expenditures, and anticipates a roughly $800,000–$900,000 deficit to be covered from fund balance.
Staff member called the special budget workshop to order and presented the proposed fiscal-year budget, saying, "You've all had a chance to review the budget ... we can go through." The presentation said the city will hold the interim property tax rate at $1.55 and will not ask for a tax increase this year; the rate will be finalized when the certified rate is released later in the summer.
The budget documents presented project general-fund revenues of $15,003,400 and expenditures of $16,303,600. "So we're projecting, a deficit ... somewhere just around $800,000 to $900,000," the staff member said, and noted the city expects to use fund balance to cover the shortfall. The presenter also said the administration intends to revise several line items before the public hearing to reflect updated bid and contract numbers.
Why this matters: the proposed budget affects staffing, services and capital projects across Collegedale, and the decision to hold the interim property tax rate preserves existing taxpayer burden while the commission finalizes the certified rate.
Key revenue and expenditure points included projections for modest increases and decreases across taxes and fees: a projected 4% increase in property tax revenue next year driven by subdivision buildouts; a projected $100,000 decrease in utility tax; a 3% decrease in local sales tax for the current cycle; and a $175,000 projection for hotel/motel tax revenue (about a 17% increase over current-year collections). The presentation said grant revenue is expected to fall compared with last year, and miscellaneous revenues and interest earnings were adjusted with conservative assumptions.
On the spending side the budget includes planned salary increases and market adjustments; staff described an approach that started with a 3% base increase for most positions, with targeted market adjustments for positions outside the market range. Department highlights presented included:
- Police: salaries up 8% with one additional officer budgeted; training and dispatch contract costs were described as increasing. The presentation noted efforts to keep police salaries competitive with neighboring jurisdictions.
- Public works and parks: additional full-time positions were included for mowing and park maintenance tied to new greenway and park responsibilities; capital requests include trucks, mowers and a front-end loader.
- Library: staff proposed a one-time $25,000 budget item to reduce the library hold backlog and discussed a possible contract addendum to increase the annual payment to $75,000 if agreed by both parties.
- Administration/IT: the budget includes funding for a new IT/content manager position and a plan to bring most day-to-day IT services in-house while retaining an external contract for specialized support.
The presenter said several numbers will be revised in an updated budget document to be posted for public review before the commission's public hearing. Commissioners asked for departmental breakdowns of how percentage increases were applied to individual employees and requested more detail on vendor increases (for example, dispatch contract increases and auditing cost drivers). There were also requests for documentation from outside vendors where amounts had recently changed.
No formal votes were taken at the workshop; the session was informational and staff said they will post a revised budget with corrections and updated bid numbers ahead of the public hearing.
